"She was in the Stepford Wives, and… and the Golden Compass? She used to be married to Tom Cruise…" Gerald groaned. "C'mon!"

But Phoebe just looked at him, desperately trying to keep a straight face. She really had no idea who on earth Gerald was talking about, and he was just getting so worked up…

"Time's up!" Helga drawled from where she was lounging on the sofa.

Arnold and Maya weren't bothering to hide their laughter. "Oh my god Gerald…" Maya gasped. "You should so see your face right now…"

"Nicole Kidman!" Gerald threw his hands up, and flopped backwards to lie back on the carpet. "Who doesn't know Nicole Kidman?"

Chewing on her bottom lip, Phoebe looked up at Helga and shrugged. "Me?"

That was enough to have them all collapsing into giggles.

God it was good to see her best friend again. She'd been a little torn, if she was going to be honest. She'd wanted to spend the entire Spring Break in Chicago, re-acquainting herself with Joel, but when Arnold had found out that Gertie and Mitzi were going to be on a cruise, and wouldn't be at the boarding house for a week before they scattered Phil's ashes – one year since the funeral – Gerald and Phoebe had jumped at the chance to come visit…

… and it was totally worth cutting short her time with Joel to spend time with Pheebes, even if she was feeling more and more like the 5th wheel.

They were all pissed. Lolling drunkenly around in the lounge playing Articulate, a birthday gift from Maya (who had said it was the perfect game for such a wordy bitch. She wasn't wrong). So far, Gerald and Phoebe were winning, though Arnold and Maya weren't lagging too far behind. Helga was being the referee, but it wasn't as fun as actually playing.

And with the late hour, and all the booze, they were starting to get all coupley and cuddly with each other, which just made Helga miss Joel even more. She couldn't believe how hard this long-distance thing was… even with the whole no strings thing. Phoebe and Gerald were superheroes for making it work!

She sighed. "Maya, your turn."

They had a good round, while Helga tried not to seethe with envy. Maya sat facing Arnold, cross-legged in the wide V of his splayed legs, and as she struggled to describe the objects and concepts on the cards, and while he tried to figure out what she was talking about, his hand ran over her legs. Stroking the backs of his fingers down her shin, holding briefly onto her ankle before rubbing at the back of her calf. They did look amazing together. Him tall and lean and blonde, her short and curvy and dark. His hands looked huge and pale against the deep brown of her skin.

But Helga was deeply envious. This was part of what made the long-distance thing hard: being surrounded by Arnold and Maya's affectionate perfection all of the time. It was worse than when she'd just been single, somehow. Because now she knew what she wanted, but it just wasn't within reach.

The timer hadn't run out before she heard a knock on the interior door, the one at the top of the stairs. Oh, maybe she could convince Dyna to come down and play! They would make a pretty amazing team. She levered herself up from the sofa and passed the timer to Phoebe before making her way up the stairs.

There was another knock. "Coming!" Helga chirped.

The door opened when she was halfway up, and for a second she didn't quite understand who was standing in the doorway, silhouetted as they were by the light from the hallway beyond.

"Hey, Helga."

She stumbled to a stop for a second, taking in his crooked smile, his scruffy hair…

"Joel!" She squealed (she squealed) and launched herself up the stairs.

"Whoa." He was laughing, wrapping his arms around her.

"What are you doing here?" She beamed, not waiting for an answer before she pressed her lips to his.

His response was immediate, the air huffing out of his lungs, his fingers gripping at her sides… but he pulled away to look at her face. "Is this OK? I don't want to impose… but I got cheap flights at the last minute…" his eyes softened. "God it's good to see you."

She arched against him, her hands hooked around the back of his neck. "This is so awesome… it's… oh man…" She was grinning. "I was just down there thinking about how much better this night would be if you were here." She kissed him again.

"You're drunk." He said simply when she released him.

She nodded.

"You're very cute when you're drunk."

Excitement was bubbling through her veins. Joel is here! Joel is here! "Come down! Phoebe and Gerald are here! We're playing Articulate, we can be a team!"

He chuckled at her all the way down the stairs. Her head was spinning, and it wasn't just from the alcohol. She felt like a little kid. She was totally aware that she was acting like one, too… but she'd never been surprised like this in her life.

"Guys! Look who turned up!" She almost skipped into the lounge, towing Joel behind her.

"Hey! Joel!" Maya scrabbled to her feet, gave him a hug. "When did you get in?"

"Just now… it, uh, wasn't planned."

For a second Helga just grinned, leaning up against Joel's side, before she remembered her manners. "Uh, guys, this is Joel, obviously." Still grinning. "Joel, that is Gerald, the lovely lady on his lap is Phoebe, and this is Arnold."

She pointed, and while Gerald and Phoebe smiled and waved and said hello, Arnold got to his feet, shook Joel's hand… "Hey."

Was she imagining things, or was Arnold sizing Joel up? Despite being younger, Arnold had a good few inches on Joel, and he as he looked down, there was a weird look in his eye.

But Joel just smiled and said hi and shook Arnold's hand, all the while tugging her close… and he kept her close as they re-started the game.

They totally bombed. Easily the worst game she'd ever played… but she hadn't laughed so hard in ages, if ever. She'd had tears running down her cheeks at one point, and Gerald had ended up enforcing a timed giggle break, when she and Maya had started hiccupping too hard to talk.

And Joel's hands had hardly left her.

She'd been right to be envious of the coupley touching before… it was fantastic.

"I told you they were adorable." Maya elbowed Arnold's ribs when Joel nosed the back of Helga's neck.

"Not this again." Helga grumbled.

Arnold rolled his eyes, his arm over Mayas shoulders. "Not sure if Adorable is really a word I'd use to describe Pacman."

"Pacman?" Joel chuckled. "I dunno… I think she's pretty cute."

Helga scoffed, smiling. "Phoebe's the cute one."

"I'm with Helga on this." Gerald piped up from where he lay on the floor. He struggled up to his elbows. "Seriously, dude…" he levelled at Joel. "You have no idea how weird it is to hear someone call Helga cute."

"Yeah?" Joel glanced down at her, his fingers were stroking up and down her arm. "Why? What was she like at school?"

But they just laughed as Helga scowled. "Ohhh man, you have no idea." Gerald fell back to the carpet.

"Yeah, I figured." Joel pressed a kiss to the skin of her shoulder, just above her t-shirt. "Sassy as hell, I bet. Didn't take shit from anyone."

There was a little blip in the conversation, before Phoebe giggled. "That is exactly right, Joel." The warmth in her best friends voice made Helga's stomach cramp. "Did you know that she threw a modelling deal that would have set her up for life?"

"Oh, no… Phoebe… not this…"

… "I'm dating the IT Girl." Joel teased, hours later when they were finally alone.

"Please don't… it sucked." Helga frowned. She didn't want to talk about that, she wanted to get her hands inside his shirt.

"I didn't say anything out there…" his lips mumbled over her neck as his hands found the hem of her shirt and the skin beneath it. "But I had the biggest crush on you…"

"I was nine."

"And I was fourteen." He shrugged, pressing kisses to her collarbones. "But you were sassy as fuck, and looked older. I thought you were closer to my age."

"Well, I'm still sassy as fuck, and now I'm legal… so maybe you should do something about this crush of yours."

"Oh, I was planning on it."

She fell apart with him, and he fell apart with her. Far from the other times, when he had deftly taken control of her, laid her back and given to her… they lay twined, winding each other in to lay skin on skin. Hands jammed between planes of hard-pressed of flesh, arms both braced and clasping, they shared the same lungful of air as they exclaimed against each others mouths, and they unravelled together.

There was nothing more than the touch of the other. The flat, the others, the bed they were on, disappeared as they lost themselves… and even after they sighed and shuddered with release, it took the longest time to find their way back again.

…

"Mornin' Pheebes." Helga slouched into the kitchen and put her arms around Phoebe from behind, leaning her chin on the smaller girls shoulder and closing her eyes.

Phoebe giggled. "Good morning Helga… sleep well?"

"Mmmm-hmmmmm." Helga nodded dozily.

"I thought you would." Her voice was practically dripping with satisfaction. "I'm making coffee, want one?

"Of course."

"Then you'll have to let me go." Phoebe had the biggest smile on her face as she bustled around the little kitchen.

"You look like you slept well too." Helga smirked from where she leaned against the bench. Phoebe's blush and sheepish smile were answer enough, and Helga sighed a big goofy sigh. "I really like him, Pheebes."

"To borrow one of your own euphemisms, Helga… doi." Phoebe was laughing at her, but her eyes were soft. "He seems to care for you very much."

Helga preened, all blissed out, before biting on her bottom lip. "What about Arnold?"

That had Phoebe blinking. She tilted her head, looking more than a little confused. "What about him?"

Helga frowned, shrugged. "That macho bullshit he was pulling…"

"Oh. Yes, I did notice that." She spoke slowly, considering her answer. "I think… he is protective of you." She said finally. "Perhaps too much so."

Helga nodded. "Yeah, figured as much." She bared her teeth. "It really pisses me off."

"Understandable. But he cares about you too, and he has always worried about others."

"True…" She shook her head. What a downer… "What do you wanna do today? I was thinking we could go to the beach?"

"Oh!" Phoebe's face lit up. "I would love to visit the San Francisco Library!"

There was a reason they were best friends. "Ah, a woman after my own heart."